A Truth Hidden in Blood:

Gaara's Story

Prologue:

The dry desert winds made slight whooshing sounds as they raced over dunes of sand. Few boulders dotted the barren landscape, turned either sliver or light gray in the pale light of the half moon that hung in the midnight sky. A boy was perched atop one of the small hills of rock, staring unblinkingly at the milk colored, half-disk in the sky, his russet hair rustling softly in the warm breeze. "Gaara-Kun." A girl was walking across the sand towards the boy.

He acknowledged her with a quick sidelong glance. "Temari-Nichan." His voice was low and mysterious, not betraying his feelings. Every time someone said his name within range of his ears, a choking wave of sadness, anger, and loneliness rushed over him. It was his fathers fault that he was Gaara, the feared demon. His deceased mother named him after the demon that fought for only himself while she was on her last breath. When he was still a fetus, cowering in Karura's womb, his father, the fourth Kazekage, sealed a sand spirit inside of his son's unborn body to make sure he would become the strongest of shinobe. As a result, Karura was destroyed, lost forever, and Gaara was a hated monster in the eyes of the people of Sunagakure.

Temari held a box out to him. "I brought you something to eat." She looked like she was afraid to say anything that would upset him. "Salted tongue; you favorite," she said hopefully.

Gaara's face was severe, as if he weren't touched that she'd go out of her way to bring him his favorite food. "Why does everyone always give me the special treatment?" His eyes blazed with anger. "You and Kankuro-San both do, but you're the worst, Temari-Nichan."

Temari gulped. "I-I just try to make you happy." Her voice softened. "You're my brother, Gaara-Kun. I care about you."

"I don't." His voice was cold and rigid. "And you can't make me happy. My happiness was forfeited the day I was born," Gaara said in an angry tone. "I don't feel anything anymore, not towards you, and not towards anyone else in this wretched world."

Temari staggered back a few steps, as if Gaara had struck her with his fist. "I apologize." She set Gaara's dinner on a rock next to him. "I'll see you in the morning, Gaara-Kun."

Chapter 1:

Bloodlust

Gaara stared at the kitchen table, his eyes wide with lust. On the edge of the square of bleached wood, a drop of blood glistened scarlet in the light from a dwindling candle. Someone wasn't careful to wipe it off, even though they knew if Gaara smelled or saw blood, he would go into a rampage. His inner demon would stir and waken at the thought of tasting the thick red liquid. "Blood…" Gaara's slightly rasping voice was longing for the taste of blood. "You want blood, don't you?"

"Hey, Gaara-Kun!" Temari stepped into the kitchen excitedly. "Guess wha-" Then she saw the crazed look in her younger brother's eye. "Gaara-Kun!" She dived for the table in an attempt to knock him away from the blood.

Gaara heard his sister's rapid, fearful heartbeat and thought about the blood that ran through her veins. "I must…" His eyes widened and he smiled frighteningly. "Kill!"

The sand rushed from the gourd on Gaara's back, and caught Temari's foot. "Gaara-Kun!" she screamed. "Stop!" Frightened tears ran down her cheeks. "Gaara-Kun, you can't do this!"

"Gaara-Kun, you can't do this!" the man cried, blocking a girl from a blast of sand. Blood ran down his face, matting his fair hair.

"Yoshimaru-San." A young Gaara looked at his feet. "I'm sorry…"

Yoshimaru wiped blood from his deep teal eyes, but said nothing.

"Gaara-Kun!" Temari's voice brought him back to the present. "Please…"

Gaara thought of Uncle Yoshimaru and how he shielded his victim, and let the sand fall from his sister's ankle. "Forget you," he muttered, walking away.

Temari stared at him as he walked out of the kitchen, then curled into a ball next to one of the table legs, wiping the tears from her eyes. "Gaara-Kun…" she whispered, more concerned than terrified. She stayed in the fetal position by the table for a few more moments, then got up and hurried after Gaara.

"I'm sorry…" Gaara was murmuring, his hand clamped over the right side of his face. "Mother. I tried to be a good boy, I tried to give you blood… but you didn't want Temari-Nichan's blood. You loved her."

The wind brought sand whipping through the air, but it avoided Gaara, casting a circle around the rock he sat upon.

"You want good blood, don't you mother?" He began to laugh. "And I'll find some for you. It'll taste so good, and you'll be so happy with me." He released his face, exposing a wicked smile. "Those Chunin exams are in a few months. Yes, yes, that's just perfect. Then, when I find the right blood, I'll let you have it all."

The wind grew stronger, churning up a vicious sandstorm. Gaara was like the eye of the storm, where it was all peaceful.

"Your so thirsty, Mother." He stood abruptly. "I'm sorry, but you'll have to do with one of the maggots in this putrid village."

Gaara stalked towards the village, an evil smile on his face.

"Where's Gaara-Kun?" Temari shouted to Kankuro. "Have you found him?"

"No, I can't see a thing in this sandstorm!" Kankuro shouted back.

Oh man, he thought. We have to find him…

"Gaara-Kun!" Temari yelled into the wind. "Gaara-Kun, where are you?"

Kankuro squinted his eyes, and saw a small, dark shape at the end of the street. Is that… Gaara-Kun?

"Temari-Nichan!" he called to his sister. "I think that's him over there."

"Gaara-Kun!" Temari sounded relieved, racing towards him as fast as she could in the harsh winds.

Kankuro approached more hesitantly, and then he smelled the reek of blood. "Temari-Nichan!" he screamed. "Don't get any closer!"

He stepped forward a bit so he could see the dead body at his younger brother's feet. "Gaara-Kun!" Temari cried. "Why? Why have you done this?"

"Be careful," Kankuro warned.

Temari didn't seem to hear him. "What's wrong with you, Gaara-Kun?" she screamed angrily at him. "Do you really have to kill everyone you see?"

"Mother wanted me to," Gaara said simply.
"Mother is dead!"

That set the sand off, whirling around her, stinging her skin with its course grains. "Temari-Nichan!" Kankuro turned to Gaara. "Stop, Gaara-Kun! Make it stop."

Gaara just stared at Temari. "Mother…" he said, his eyes widening in pain. He grasped his right temple with his hand. "I'm sorry, Mother! Don't be angry with me!"

"Argh!" Temari cried while Gaara pleaded with their mother. "Kankuro-San!"

"I'm trying to be a good boy!"

"Help!"

Kankuro felt as if he were in the twilight zone, the sand whirling around him, Gaara pleading with mother on one side, Temari crying for help on his other. Should he comfort Gaara, or help Temari?

"Kankuro-San! Please…" Temari was fading into unconsciousness fast.

"I was born to kill!"

The winds kicked up yet another notch, knocking Kankuro off his feet. He had his chance to save his sister from the vortex of sand, but all he could do now was stare helplessly as Temari's feet left the ground. "Oh my god," he whispered. "This is unreal."

Suddenly, the sand stopped, falling from the air to the packed earth road. Gaara collapsed weakly to his knees, and Temari lay in a heap, her eyes closed. "Temari-Nichan!" He hurried to her side. Several scratches covered her arms and face, and a few grains of sand still clung to her skin. Kankuro turned on Gaara and hit him with his fist. "You monster!" he screamed. "This is your sister! You don't maim your siblings, Gaara-Kun!" His face was disgusted. "You, you make me sick, Gaara-Kun! I hate you!"

I hate you! Kankuro's harsh words echoed in Gaara's mind. I hate you… hate you… hate you…

You make me sick!

You monster…

Suddenly, Gaara felt like he had when he was six, sobbing because the other children ran away whenever they saw him.

"He's so creepy!"
"Run away!"

Yoshimaru's face appeared in his mind.

"Yoshimaru-San…"

"Yes, Gaara-Kun?"

The young Gaara held a knife in his small hand. "What does pain feel like?"

"Well," Yoshimaru began, scratching the back of his head. Bandages where wrapped around his forehead from the injuries he had received from earlier that day when he protected that girl from Gaara's sand. "It's difficult, upsetting more like it. When you get cut, or struck, it's a feeling that's very hard to bear." He smiled halfheartedly. "I'm not explaining it very well, but it's a situation you want to avoid if possible."

"Yoshimaru-San…"

"What is it?"

Gaara looked up at his uncle with large, teary eyes. "Do you hate me, like the others?"

Yoshimaru hugged Gaara. "In this world, there are many people that we don't like, that we'd rather avoid, but I find it very hard to hate anyone."

Gaara's face changed from sadness to happiness. "Thanks, Uncle Yoshimaru! I think I know what pain is now." His face fell again. "And I think I may be feeling it too." Gaara clutched his chest, as if to cradle his fragile heart. "I know I'm not bleeding, but, but I've been feeling a lot of pain recently."

Yoshimaru took the knife from Gaara and pressed the sharp bade t his index finger. A drop of blood oozed from the small cut. "When you get cut, blood flows quickly on the heels of pain. It takes time for the wound to heal, but medicine it can heal faster. But even more dangerous is a wound to the heart. It takes a very long time to heal," he explained.

"But it can heal?" Gaara asked. "How?"

"There's only one cure for a broken heart, but it's a very long, complicated remedy," Yoshimaru looked at a picture on an end table; a woman with shoulder-length fair hair, and teal eyes. Gaara's mother. "It's love, Gaara-Kun."

Gaara looked anxious. "How do I get rid of it, though?"

"My sister wants to protect you, even after death." Yoshimaru looked into Gaara's pupil-less sea foam greenish blue eyes. "That's love Gaara-Kun."

"B-but it's not healing!" Gaara's voice rose with panic. "How do I make it heal?"

"Before it can heal, you must learn to love. Starting with loving yourself," Yoshimaru said calmly. "Instead of hating yourself, accept who you are. The other children can't do that while you're unhappy with yourself. While you're still upset, they'll still see you as Shukaku, the sand spirit that preys on the souls of others. Yes, he'll still be there even if you love yourself, but you'll be a stronger person."

"Thank you, Yoshimaru-San!" Gaara was quiet for a moment, then his face lit up.

"You're very welcome." He put his cut finger in his mouth. "You're special, Gaara-Kun. I hold you very dear to me."

Gaara stepped forward, and took Yoshimaru's wounded hand. Out of curiosity, he put his mouth over his uncle's index finger. "It tastes like iron…"

"Hey, Yoshimaru-San. Can I ask you a favor?"

"What is it, Gaara-Kun?"

"I need some medicine…"

Gaara ran down the street, a brown paper bag in his arms. He stopped at house number thirteen, and knocked on the door. A girl answered. It was the one the sand almost killed.

"What do you want?" she asked fearfully, hiding partially behind the door.

"I'm sorry about today. It must have hurt." He held out the bag. "I brought you medicine, so you can heal faster," he said, quoting what Yoshimaru had said.

"Get lost!" she sneered. "Freak!"

"You're a freak Gaara-Kun!" Kankuro shouted angrily at him. He knew he didn't mean all those horrible things, but he had to take out his anger on something. "You killed our mother, and now you've tried to kill Temari-Nichan twice today! You shouldn't be alive. Mother should still be here, and you should be dead!"

"I will never die," Gaara said ominously. "As long as there are people to kill in this cold, heartless world, I will never disappear. Pain, suffering, I know what that feels like. I had no purpose in life, like you. But now I find purpose in killing all that done wrong to me." He glared at his older brother. "And now, I'm not just going to kill you. Now I have a reason too." As he walked away, he called over his shoulder, "I suggest you make sure the door and windows are locked when you sleep. You never know what might be sneaking up on you when you slumber…"

Kankuro tried to shake off Gaara's threatening parting words as he picked Temari off of the ground, and hurried home, desperate not to be caught in the dark streets with Gaara out there.